Not a Monster
by melanoradrood
Summary: Inspired by the Mid-Season 4 Promo. Forgot to post it to FFN. Marrish. One Shot / Drabble. Complete. Mid-S4. No real warnings.


Of all the things that he had been expecting when climbing into his car to head home after checking on a faulty alarm at one of the stores in town, his Sheriff's deputy car exploding was not one of them. It had been five seconds of pure shock, and then he was pulling himself out, clothing burning off his body. Even his radio was melting. But his body? The flames? He didn't feel them. He felt nothing except… rebirth. Cleanliness.

Lydia Martin had said that he was different, but… oh.

Questions were filling his mind, but his first priority was getting back to the Sheriff's station. He knew it was only a few miles and started running, blanking out his mind as he tried to figure out what to say, what to do. The Sheriff was not in the station that night, and he might be the only one that Jordan could really trust in a moment like this… more because if he told anyone that he was in his car when it exploded, no one would believe him, and he would be seeing that Meredith girl a whole lot more once he was put in Eichen House.

Walking into the dark Sheriff's station, he was met with shock, and then - none of these men belonged. They were rifling through drawers, and yes they were in the proper uniform, but he recognized one of them. Anger came over him as he approached the first, grabbing the gun aimed at him and pushing him back. The other two ran off, but Jordan was caught in this one moment, on this one man. Beating him with his fist, over and over, he finally stopped when he heard a feminine gasp.

Turning around, he saw her, no makeup on, hair a mess, staring at him in shock. If there was anyone that he could trust more than the Sheriff, it was her. He fell to his knees, looking down at his hands, covered in blood, blood of the man that he had just… She ran forward, fingers going to check the man's pulse, but they both knew it was pointless. He was dead.

"I'm a monster," he finally said, staring at her. "You said I was different, but you never said… I'm a monster."

Lydia shook her head, her lips pressing together for a moment as she tried to find the right words. "You're not-" She seemed to rethink it for a moment, then tried again. "Not all monsters do monstrous things."

He didn't know what she had been planning to say before, but that right there was just about perfect. He was a monster, then. He, the guy that had a Captain America poster on his wall, had done everything he could to serve his country and his community… he was a monster. He almost laughed at the thought. She wouldn't find it funny, though.

"And you're a psychic."

No, that she did find funny. She was leading him away - wait, when did he stand up? When had they made it back to the locker room? She was leading him into the locker room, and now turning on the water in one of the showers. He stared at her for a moment, not even sure what was going on. He was a monster, she was a psychic, and his open mind was now being blown wide open.

"I'm not a psychic." He caught just a glimpse of her eyes rolling, and pulled on her arm to turn her attention back to him.

"You're something."

Her eyes rolled again, and she smirked up at him. "I've heard that before, and I am."

"Why did you come here tonight? How did you know?"

Lydia let out a sigh and ran a hand into her hair. There was a lot to explain, but for right now… "Get a shower. Then, I have to take you to see someone."

—-

They were across town in her car, and she was driving him back to his place to grab a few things… given the fact that he was no longer just a name on the deadpool, but now a very active target, she refused to leave him alone. A number of them had decided to bunker down at the loft, of all places, hoping that by being together, they would be stronger. Being apart was certainly doing them no good.

Pulling in front of his place, she followed him up, and waited awkwardly until he finally said something. After leaving Derek's, he had been abnormally silent, not asking any questions, thinking through it all. Now questions were building in her mind… what exactly was he? He obviously had had no idea before, but he had to have seen some hints, just… something. She had a few hunches, but there was no way she would just throw out terms without proper research.

"You're a psychic."

His words caught her off guard, and she saw that he had a dufflebag packed with a few things. Her arms crossed under her breasts and she raised an eyebrow towards him. "We've already been over this. I'm not a psychic."

"You are," he repeated, moving in closer to her. "You… you always know. You're always there. You were there for me tonight. Even when I was a monster."

Letting out a huff, she pushed herself off the wall and moved closer to him, hand moving up to pat his chest gently. "You're not a monster. And what you did wasn't wrong. He was going to kill you if you didn't kill him. I am sorry that this is all a crash course for you, but this is a new world. Get used to it, or die."

His hand caught over hers, and she paused for a moment, head tilting to the side as she studied him.

"Do you know how I know you're a psychic?"

She raised an eyebrow, but stayed still, looking up at him with a half smirk, willing to play into his little tease if that was what he wanted. Better that he concentrate on this than the man that he had killed hours earlier. Distractions were, after all, the best way to avoid confronting the present issues.

"How?"

His body was close to hers, and she noticed that he had moved her hand up his body, to rest on his shoulder, and now both of his hands were going around her to pull her body close to his. All air escaped her as she tried to think about what was going on, but he was too smooth, faster than she could think with an oxygen-less brain.

"You know exactly what I'm about to do."

He was right on that one. She smiled a little, showing that she did, in fact, know what he was about to do, and he seemed to pause, as if giving her a moment to pull away, to step back. And then it was happening… he was bending down the rest of the way, his lips almost touching hers, when her phone rang.

They both pulled away and stared at each other for a moment, and he started laughing. She pulled out her phone and saw it was Kira, asking for Lydia to come by and pick her up, and she looked up to smile at the older man. The moment was lost, but there was promise there… promise that they would work on later. After this list was taken care of.

"Not a psychic," she said with a smirk, brushing her hair over her shoulder as she stepped past him and out into the hallway. His body was suddenly pressed against hers, back to chest, and she felt his hand slide over her stomach, holding her there as he pressed his nose into her hair. Her eyes closed for a moment and she smiled to herself, just taking advantage of the rare moment they had.

"But something," he replied. "Something… not monstrous." She nodded a little, and he finally pulled away, moving to lock his apartment.

Turning on her heel, she smiled softly at him again, watching and waiting. "And neither are you. You're not a monster, Jordan."

He seemed to freeze in spot, both from her statement and the actual use of his first name. He would have to grow used to the fact that she knew it, and had known it for some time. Just like he would have to, much later, grow used to the fact that he had almost kissed her, and had felt her body pressed to his.

"Maybe not. But we'll figure that out later. All of it."

She gave him a look of understanding, then slid her hand into his, letting him lead her outside as they went to face the rest of the dangerous world.

* * *

AN : I wrote this ages ago but never uploaded it. Who knows why. Idk. It's here now.


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